100 Essential iPad Tips and Tricks
Change the way the default apps and the operating system behave, to make them suit your particular needs. You’ll also discover ways to squeeze more functionality out of the default apps.
The guys over at tcgeeks.com have put together another great article on the iPad. Where many articles before have focused on the settings and technical aspects of getting the most from your iPad, this article is really about customising your ipad. The iPad is an incredibly versatile device that can enhance your life in many different ways but all iPads behave identically when you first get them out of the box. That’s no reason for us to use our gadgets in the same way as everyone else. Be sure to check out the rest of their site at tcgeeks.
01 Which Direction Am I Travelling In?
When using the Maps app, you can see your current position on the map as a blue dot. If you’re unsure which direction you are walking in, simply tap on the compass arrow icon on the top bar. A torchlight-style beam will emit from the blue location dot, indicating your current direction. So you need never get lost again.
02 Share Your Location
If you want to rendezvous with a friend, tap the ‘i’ icon by the pin that indicates your current location. Tap the ‘Share Location’ button and then email or MMS a map reference to your friend. They can tap the map’s URL link and view your location as a pin in their own Maps app.
03 Drop a Pin
If you can’t find a precise location via the Maps app’s handy search option, you can tap on the curled paper at the bottom right and press ‘Drop Pin’. You can then drag the pin to a point on the map (or just tap and hold on the screen), tap the blue ‘I’ icon and click on the ‘Directions to Here button’.
04 Get Bus Times
By default, the Maps app’s Directions function displays the route and time it’ll take you to get to your destination when travelling by car. If you click the Bus icon you’ll get walking directions to the nearest bus stop, then see the relevant bus number and departure time to take you to your destination.
05 Instant Traffic Repport
If you’re not sure what route to take, tap the Maps app’s curled paper (at the bottom right) and toggle the Traffic button on, Clear roads will be marked with green, slow moving traffic will appear as amber and real snarl ups will be highlighted by flashing red lines. You can then plan a faster route.
06 Give Turn-by-Turn Driving Directions
The Maps app’s Directions menu displays routes as a line from A to B, but this is not suitable for a driver to access safely while on the move. Tap ‘Directions’ at the top of the window then tap ‘Start’ in the directions bar. Now tap the list icon in the blue bar for turn-by-turn directions.
07 Pause Your Downloads
If you’re trying to update a bunch of apps at the same time and don’t feel like waiting forever for one of them to finish, it’s possible to pause the installation of an app and form your own orderly queue. Simply tap an app icon while it is downloading to pause the process. Tap it again to resume.
08 Create Big Print
If you don’t always have your reading glasses to hand, it can be a hassle having to squint to read small fonts within text messages, notes or emails. Pop into Settings>General and scroll down to Accessibility. Then use the Large Text option to make the words in many applications look larger.
09 Perform a Double-Tap Zoom
For a closer look at your app icons, turn on the ‘Zoom’ option in the Accessibility menu. A double tap with three fingers will then magnify a part of the screen. You can scroll around the zoomed screen by dragging with three fingers. Double-tap with three fingers to zoom out again.
10 Activate VoiceOver
You can get your iPad to read out the contents of any screen (including button labels) by turning on the ‘VoiceOver’ option (in Accessibility). This will dramatically change the way you interact with the iPad, but is handy for listening to a book while on the move.
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New Features: Kno iPad Textbooks
The Kno app for iPad is currently only available on the US app store but it is indicative of the growing move and awareness in the need for alternative textbook publishing options. We can only hope that this move is emulated around the world.
After scrapping plans to produce an unusual oversized dual-screen educational tablet device, Kno Inc., an educational startup focused on reinventing the textbook. It has shifted its focus to creating educational software for the iPad. The company has released Kno app for iPad with a retail site offering more than 70,000 digital textbooks for sale at up to 50% off print list price, as well as course management, note-taking and social media functionality.
Kno has released a couple of great new features in their latest updates; Kno 3D, Journal, QuizMe and Smart Links. The following videos explain Kno 3D and Smart Links
Kno has deals to offer digital versions of print textbooks from a wide range of textbook publishers.
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Quixey - App Search Engine
Looking for Apps made easy. Quixey is a App Search Engine - searching multiple platforms of apps. Excellent site based on algorithms that match the purpose of the app rather than the name.
Imagine you want to find the best app for editing photos on your laptop or iPhone. Quixey is an all-platform app directory and functional search engine. Quixey's search finds the best app that does the function you want. You simply go to the Quixey home page and search for "edit photos". Quixey's search algorithms know that if an app is ranked highly on function pages like "make a photo black and white" and "red eye correction", then it's a good match for what you're trying to do.
Quixey is a powerful new way to navigate the growing universe of apps. Whether your platform is web, desktop, mobile, Twitter, Facebook, Wordpress, or one of thousands of others, it will find a list of apps that do what you want. It also includes a snippet of a review.
I typed in "making mindmaps" and was offered 10 pages of apps.
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Beginner's Guide to iOS Development: Building your First App - Part 2
An excellent step-by-step procedure for producing a fully-functioning iPhone application. This the second instalment of the App building tutorial from Jake Rocheleau over at Hongkiat.com. It is illustrated the whole way through with screen shots so you know you are doing the right thing.
The app, with a tabbed navigation, will convert temperature units and distance units. Don’t worry if you’re still new to the Xcode. It doesn't take long time to comfortably adapt into the interface. Jake explains each step in detail so you shouldn’t get lost, either!
At the end of the tutorial you will get an application which can’t be pushed into the iPhone since it will need you to purchase developer program, but we can run it inside the iOS Simulator on a Mac OS X system. I’ve offered the project files for download which you can also refer when you are not sure about certain step. So you want an app, let’s get started!
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iPad Resources for Students with Special Needs: Spectronics
Spectronics is a company that specialises in assistive technologies and technology for students with special needs. Although the iPad is not their only focus they have recognised the great potential that the touch device has in this area. This is an well designed site packed with resources and teaching guides together with loads of links for additional information.
These guys do their own comprehensive reviews of appropriate apps as well as provide multiple links that also provide extensive reviews of apps for special needs. Spectronics have also developed the most fantastic Handout - Introduction to the iPad 2 in Special Education. This handout is overflowing with further resources and links to provide parents, teachers and institutions with all the information they would need to implement a iPad program.
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Appitic - iPad Apps Curated
Appitic is a great site for finding relevant educational apps. It is easy to navigate and the design is simple and clean. This is my new favourite site for finding apps. For me one of the most important aspects is the way that these guys have organised their apps. Not only have they organised them in traditional key learning areas but they have also generated lists of apps that work within the scaffolds of Multiple Intelligences and Bloom's Taxonomy. Great job guys!
Make sure you check out the Guides section as well, the four Apple Distinguished Educators who have put this together - Alline Sada, Alberto Valdes, Hannah Rollwitz, and Brian Zink have done a great job of creating some simple and easy to follow classroom guides. Well worth checking out.
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Beginner's Guide to iOS Development: The Interface - Part 1
iPhone, iPod or iPad application development is not as hard as you might think, and this post by Jake Rochlelau over at Hongkiat.com is a comprehensive guide to the complete process of building an application for iDevices. He discusses the reasons, phases, and tools for developing the app, and ultimately you will follow an easy tutorial to design the basic iDevice application using the Xcode 4.2.
Using App Templates:
Read the full tutorial:
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